Rainy Day Ponderings
by btamamura
Summary: Part 3 of 'Tears of a Gear Fighter'. Kuroudo remembers times when he and Jin were enemies and friends.


Rainy Day Ponderings  
  
yamitammy  
  
I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.  
  
Some references in this story refer to my other fic called 'Tears Of A Gear Fighter'. There are a few spoilers, you have been warned. This fic is dedicated to Hareta AKA Jirou, Messiah Dragonair AKA Kishin, Klyukaizer AKA Kouya and finally one of my best pals in the CGT Community, Kazie Solo AKA Kuroudo. I hope you all like this. Thanks for the support you guys, I love you for it.  
  
Kuroudo Marume was sitting out in the rain. The drops fell on his head soaking him from head to toe, but he didn't care. He found it relaxing and a lot of things were on his mind. 'I know I'm at risk of catching pneumonia, but I kind of want that to happen. I'd be able to join Jin. But then, what about mother?' Kuroudo thought back to a few years ago.  
  
"Bonjour, mama," a five year old Kuroudo greeted with a large smile. "How is papa?"  
  
Mrs. Marume had just finished crying. She turned to her son to reveal her bloodshot eyes. "Kuroudo, I have something to tell you about your father."  
  
"Mama?" Kuroudo was confused, why was his mother so sad? "What's wrong?"  
  
"Your father, he was too sick. He passed away," Mrs. Marume stated as she hugged her son and cried once again.  
  
Kuroudo found it hard to cry, he was too shocked, he was just numb.  
  
The next day, Kuroudo went outside to greet his four friends Phillipe a young boy with glasses, Marie a young girl with blonde hair, Pierre the tall boy who wore overalls and a bandana, and finally Avril a girl with brown hair who Kuroudo had a crush on.  
  
"Bonjour, Kuroudo!" Marie greeted as she ran over to her taller friend. "Comment ca va? (How are you?)"  
  
Kuroudo frowned. "Ca va mal, non, je suis triste (I feel bad, no, I am sad)," he replied with a sigh.  
  
"Pour quoi? (Why?)" Pierre asked.  
  
"Papa died yesterday," Kuroudo replied.  
  
"Oh, mon dieu! Pauvre Kuroudo (Oh dear! Poor Kuroudo)" Phillipe stated sadly.  
  
Avril gave Kuroudo a hug, those two were best friends and were quite inseparable, plus she had feelings for Kuroudo too. "There there Kuroudo, it'll be okay. Have you cried yet?"  
  
"No, I can't cry," Kuroudo replied as he felt Avril rub his back. Somehow the compassion of his friends triggered his emotions. His tears sprung to his eyes and he cried his little heart out.  
  
"Mother will be alone if I were to become ill and pass on. I don't think she'd be able to handle it. First father dies, then we lose Jin. He was my best friend, nearly like my brother and now he's gone too. I'm always going to miss him. Sure, we had that argument about the microchip but our friendship was rebuilt when we both joined the Tobita Club. At first, we both put up the front of never wanting to see each other or even be near each other for that matter, but I know that the truth was we really missed each other. I recall the day when we held that tournament so more kids would join the club."  
  
(A/N-Sorry if the details are scratchy, but please just deal with it. Thank you.) Kouya had defeated Ebata by using his gear Garuda Eagle. Everybody except Ebata, Takeshi and the other two guys who hung with him (Gomano and Momita) were happy about Kouya's victory. Kuroudo looked down at Jin and smiled. Jin looked up at Kuroudo then turned away. Kuroudo was a bit surprised, his smile turned into a frown of surprise as he gasped at Jin's actions. This happened twice that day.  
  
"I know he didn't mean being so cold, I know I didn't mean it either. I recall when I joined the club and we were going to register."  
  
Kouya smiled at Jin and Kuroudo. "We're going to be doing a lot together so why don't you make up? Shake hands or something," he suggested.  
  
"I'll do what I can for this team, but I will never become friends with that boy standing right there," Jin replied with a glare in Kuroudo's direction.  
  
Kuroudo slightly turned away. "Fine, I wouldn't want anything less," he agreed with a slight glare.  
  
"The glares we put up were just acts. We really did want to be friends again, more than anything, but we had to put up that front. It's hard to explain why, but we did," Kuroudo stated to some birds in the tree above his head. "As time went on, our friendship was growing and rebuilding."  
  
Not long before the Tobita Club was going to Sydney, there was some trouble with the Japanese branch of Team Griffon. Kazuya went to the kendo dojo to tell Kuroudo what was wrong. Kuroudo went to the arena where he decided to leave the team after Jin had placed the microchip in Shooting Mirage. There he ran into Mitsuke Ohmori. "Why didn't you come to me? I could have helped you," Kuroudo stated.  
  
"Yeah right, like you helped us by leaving the team?!" Mitsuke asked in a harsh tone, he still hadn't forgiven Kuroudo for leaving the team.  
  
Kuroudo was taken aback by Mitsuke's statement, it really brought it home that they still felt harsh about him leaving the team. He had to do something to make it up to them. He decided to resign from Tobita Club and fight against Gavin Connor Hammer.  
  
Jin, Jirou, Kaoru and Kouya had found Kuroudo fighting against Gavin. They weren't happy with him for resigning and told him that they fight together. If he needed help, he should've gone to them. Kouya even tore the resignation letter. Kuroudo emerged victorious that round, but if he pulled the same maneuver he'd lose. He asked Jin to put a hole in Shooting Mirage's battery box so it could slide. After he emerged victorious, Kuroudo and Jin sat on a bench in the park.  
  
"Shooting Mirage took a lot of damage in that match. I could repair it for you," Jin stated.  
  
Kuroudo shook his head. "No, today was Shooting Mirage's final match. It had completed it's mission." The two sat in silence for a minute then Kuroudo asked a question. "Could you. . .could you build me a new gear to replace Shooting Mirage?"  
  
Jin nodded. "Sure."  
  
The two of them spent weeks working on their new gear, Shooting Phantom for Kuroudo and Dino Phalanx for Jin.  
  
"I think that was where our friendship started to rebuild, but I think Sydney was the climax. It was during our battle royale against Alberto and Ralf."  
  
The two boys launched their gear into the ring, closely followed by their opponents. The opponents had the upper-hand as they were used to this style. Kuroudo and Jin however had a few problems. Jin was so set on winning that the two found it hard to work together. Not to mention the fact they were both using new gear in battle. After a while the two better understood each other and had used the perfect strategy to emerge victorious.  
  
"Not only that time, but also another event during the World Cup. The two of us had to fight against each other."  
  
Kuroudo and Jin now had to face each other in a gear fight. Kuroudo was especially focused on winning after an earlier conversation with Eddie. At first, Kuroudo had the upper-hand, he had won the first round. The second round went to Jin and Kuroudo wasn't happy about that. In fact, he was not only angered, but scared of losing again. He finally realised what his true self was, he's afraid of losing. Jin already knew that and was glad that Kuroudo had finally figured it out. They had one of the best matches in their lives, even better than when they defeated their rivals Eddie and Kishin. Kuroudo was even permitted to destroy the microchip before they begun again and he admitted to Jin that the reason why he didn't want to fight cheaters or even if his gear was fixed for cheating was because he was afraid and only used the cheating as an excuse. The match was over and Kuroudo emerged victorious.  
  
"I'm never going to forget what happened after that."  
  
Kuroudo had just finished his match against Rin from the Manganji Dream Team and Jirou was trying to figure out his strategy to defeat U-Ya's Black Garuda Eagle. After Jirou and Kouya had found the best move to make, they gave Jin their gear to repair. Whilst repairing Shooting Phantom, Jin noticed some damage possibly caused during the match the two friends had against each other. Shooting Phantom had to be repaired ASAP. A workshop was found, but it was one of Takeshi's. Jin went to ask accompanied by Kuroudo for permission to use the workshop but Takeshi refused. Jin was about to get down on his hands and knees until Kuroudo stopped him.  
  
"You don't have to be humiliated like this," Kuroudo stated as he glared at Takeshi.  
  
"If you ask me, Kuroudo, you're the one who's being humiliated," Takeshi stated.  
  
Gina Firestone had finally found a workshop, it was the one owned by her grandfather. Jin and Jirou hurried there. After Shooting Phantom was repaired, the two hurried back to the arena. Jirou was injured along the way and collapsed near the stadium. He told Jin to hurry off and deliver that gear to Kuroudo. Jin went as fast as he could but nearly collapsed near the entrance. Luckily Lilika was there. She caught him and he told her about Jirou's injury. He ran into the arena while Lilika ran to help Jirou. Jin held out Shooting Phantom, ready to hand it to Kuroudo.  
  
Kouya was the first to notice Jin had arrived. "JIN!!!" he shouted.  
  
Kuroudo turned to see that Kouya was correct. He ran over to Jin closely followed by Kouya and Kaoru. He caught Jin in his arms as his best friend nearly collapsed again.  
  
"I fixed it," Jin stated as he held it out to Kuroudo.  
  
"Thanks, Jin," Kuroudo replied with a soft calm voice.  
  
Jin was surprised to see Kuroudo just smiling at him, acting so calm instead of hurrying to the ring ready to face Takeshi. That was when he noticed Kouya staring downcast. Kouya's bangs covered his eyes. Jin stood and looked up at the scoreboard to see that he missed by one minute. "You mean I'm too late?" he asked.  
  
"We all got down on our hands and knees and begged Takeshi for a little more time. He refused," Kouya explained with a slightly wavered voice.  
  
Jin looked up at his best friend. "Kuroudo, I'm sorry. If only I'd made it back a little earlier you'd be playing. I. . ." Tears filled Jin's eyes and he collapsed onto his knees. He started to cry.  
  
Kuroudo knelt down and embraced Jin. Tears were flowing from his eyes too. But, despite the fact he was crying, he was actually smiling. He was weeping tears of joy. "Hey, Jin, I've never felt so lucky in my life. This is much better than beating Takeshi." He closed his eyes as his tears flowed faster. "Or even becoming the World Cup champion." He opened his eyes once again to look at his best friend. He had to tell him why he was so happy about this event. "Having you as my friend is the best thing that's ever happened. Thank you, Jin."  
  
Jin looked up and noticed Kuroudo crying too. "Kuroudo. . ." Jin grabbed onto Kuroudo's shirt and cried harder. The only sound that could be heard was Jin's weeping.  
  
Kuroudo closed his eyes and cried harder too.  
  
Kaoru cupped her mouth with her hands and turned away as tears fell from her eyes too.  
  
Kouya watched the two best friends cry as tears fell from his eyes.  
  
Jirou and Lilika were just near the entrance. Tears fell from their eyes too.  
  
Kouya turned to Takeshi and glared at him as the tears still flowed.  
  
"I'm certain that was the main key to the fully restored friendship," Kuroudo murmured. "But now we're separated again, but this time, it's forever, or at least until I join him."  
  
The phone in the Marume household was ringing. Kuroudo went to answer it. When he picked it up, he learnt the worst thing he imagined had happened. His best friend Jin had died after being involved in a traffic accident. Only after Lilika spoke to him did he open up to people. At the funeral, nobody cried harder than Kuroudo. As Jin's casket was getting lowered into the ground, Kuroudo said his final farewells. He told Jin that they'd always be best friends for all of eternity. After the service, Kuroudo was in a state of depression, but he managed to find the good things in life once again and he was reborn in a way. Sure, there were days where all he could do was cry, but other times he was happy. He knew Jin was watching over him and had probably met his father and Kouya's brother Yuhya. That made him happy. Every night he prayed for Jin's soul as he prayed for his father and also a prayer for Yuhya.  
  
"Life can sometimes bring horrible things, but it can also bring out the best. I don't think either Jin or myself expected our friendship to rebuild but it did and it was even more solid than the first time we were friends. Jin's body mightn't be here anymore, but I know his soul is still around, I'm happy about that. I wonder if he's happy where he is now," Kuroudo stated as he stood and headed inside. His mind was now clear. He dried himself off and prepared himself for bed. He said his prayers for the souls of his father, his soul mate's brother and his best friend. He then opened the window, climbed into bed and fell asleep.  
  
The End  
  
Sorry if Kuroudo was a bit OOC. Please review, oh and please no comments on episode scenes. Thank you for taking the time to read this, it just appeared in my head when I was bored one Saturday night so I wrote it. I hope you enjoyed it. I seek, therefore I am. yamitammy AKA Avril 


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